Monday, March 31, 2008

AJAM 2008

Last year, a few dear friends and I got together for a "Girls Weekend". We'd gotten together the year before to catch up and have a good time. We all went to college together and were in the same sorority. Honestly, had it not been for the sorority, it's highly likely that I would have never met these three. We use the weekend to get away, reminsce and be silly. When we were planning for last year, I got inspired enough to come up with a title and had t-shirts made. A.J.A.M. is the first letter of our first initals (Amanda, Jennifer, Aubre, & Miranda). The back of the shirts (I thought) really explained what it meant... What do you do when you get in A JAM? You get away and have fun!

Well, it's that time again... time for AJAM 2008. I don't know why I get so excited doing stuff for this, but we really do have a good time on these weekend retreats. We had initally intended for it to be bigger (more people) and different (location), but with four busy life and work schedules, we were lucky to find a weekend between January and June that we could all get away. Honestly, I've been thinking about and planning for this retreat since December. You know... what I wanted to do, what to bring, what activities, etc. This year, I decided to do Swag Bags -- just like celebrities. Just a bunch of stuff that is useful and cute. It's definitely been interesting to try and find alot of swag stuff that is suited to the ladies' personalities, but also doesn't cost me a fortune. Last year, we decided to bring something for each of the other ladies. One of our friends, who shall remain NAMELESS sortof, didn't understand and only brought one gift. This year, I figured out what I wanted to give (as my individual gift), and thought it would be cute to coordinate the other girls gifts with mine.

As a sidenote, I really try to find the best cards possible. I buy cards all the time for occassions all through out the year. As I was in Walgreens last week, I ran across three identical cards. There were four women (from the 40's or 50's) decked out. There was no writing on the front. The inside said something to the effect of, "I'm ready for a Girls' Night Out". I was floored and ecstatic to find the perfect cards for this event!

Since we had a boo-boo with the nameless friend last year, I decided to make things crystal clear and send out cards and include exactly detailed information including a personal color for the gifts from each lady. I actually COLOR-CODED the cards!!!! I was able to give out two of the cards last week, and made sure to tell those two friends to make sure NOT to tell anyone their color. I was so pumped about the surprise.

Well... lo and behold, that same friend who only brought one gift last year decided to MASS EMAIL all of us this morning, and without shame, mentioned what color her stuff was.

:(And now I'm sad because she's partially spoiled the surprise.

I'm seriously contemplating putting her through a mini-induction, or freezing ALL of her underwear.